Changing Winds
by WonderfulChaos
Summary: A failed mission. A lost target. An unfound enemy. A missing ally. After narrowly escaping their own death, one takes another on a whim. Where they go, and what becomes of them, is something neither knows. All they know is that they don't belong there.
1. Chapter 1

Tayuya sighed as she limped through the forest away from the site of her last battle. Her near defeat at the hands of Shikamaru, and her complete and utter defeat at the hands of Temari, weighed heavily on her mind. "Damn Pineapple Fuck making me work so hard I couldn't even defend myself against that stupid Sand Whore of his," she grumbled as she trudged along.

Her legs were in immense pain from having trees fall around and over her. Luckily for her one of the trees fell in a way so that it kept the rest of the trees from injuring her any worse than she already was, or worse killing her on the spot. Each step she took felt like she was being burned at the stake from the waist down. There was no blood to indicate her injuries, but she knew that her bones or possibly her muscles probably weren't in the best of conditions.

She needed a hospital since she knew that there was no going back to Orochimaru to receive treatment from Kabuto. At least any treatment that didn't end with her death or permanent life of a test subject. _You have served your purpose child. I no longer need you._ Lightly grasping her now curse mark free shoulder, Tayuya shivered at the memory of her now previous master's voice in her mind as he he removed her curse mark.

As she walked she wondered what had become of the other members of the Sound Four and their leader. She could only assume that Jirōbō and Kidōmura were dead at this point since they never caught up to her. What became of the two brothers Sakon and Ukon is unknown to her, but it was something she thought on for very long. As she tumbled into a large opening in the forest, Tayuya's foot caught something firm and pulled her to the ground.

"Gahhh! Dammit! This shit is getting so fucking annoying! And is that sand? Why the fuck is there fucking sand in the middle of a damn forest?!" Standing back up slowly, Tayuya knocked as much sand off her body as she could while grumbling before looking up. Eyes widening, the young girl gasped. All she could see was sand all across the ground, and bones protruding from the ground everywhere. "I guess I found where Kimimaro was. What the hell could make that bastard go this fucking far though?" As she began walking through the bones, since she didn't feel like going around, she noticed the bones began to grow in number, and the sand seemed to raise her higher off the ground. The feel and sight of it all made her shiver.

Many times she found her path blocked by a wall of bones, or possibly a large mound of hardened sand. It was as she was forced to take another turn thanks to those blockages that Tayuya found herself frozen on the spot and holding her breath. Not even a full arms length away from her face was the unmoving corpse of Kimimaro. For a moment Tayuya was unable to tell that the boy before her was dead. It took her noticing how much time had past to figure out that the leader of her team was not trying to skewer her to death, but was in fact very much dead himself. Forever stuck in the motion of attack.

Not needing her gut instinct to tell her twice, Tayuya hightailed her way out of the sands and bones as fast as her injured legs would allow her to move. Once she reached the forest again, Tayuya kept moving as fast as she possibly could. The situation had just shown itself to be much too dangerous for her to be in. If the person that fought Kimimaro was strong enough to kill him, there was no chance of her surviving even a few minutes in a fight with him if he was anywhere near. Especially not in the condition she was in now. The more distance she put between her and Kimimaro's dead body, the safer she would feel.

Once she was , in her mind, far enough away from the area Tayuya finally began to slow down and think. _Okay, so the entire fucking mission just might have gone to shit. If one of those runts was able to kill Kimimaro, then I better count my lucky stars that he is who they fought instead of me._ She sighed thankfully before frowning to herself. _Then again, the only reason I'm not a fucking corpse is because some fucking tree fell wrong. Dammit! Forgot I need to find a doctor or some shit like that._

After a few more minutes of limping through the forest, Tayuya found herself at a clearing in the forest again. The area was strangely darkened for some unexplained reason to her. There were two large statues that stood on either side of a giant waterfall that fell into a river. Each one was at least a full ten feet taller than the actual waterfall itself and were facing each other. The statues were of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama and marked the beginning of the Valley of the End. A place so far away from, but so closely related to Konoha itself.

Looking at the two statues, Tayuya shook her head with a sneer. "Stupid fuckers fighting over that worthless piece of shit village. I would do better things if I had power like them." As she stepped out into the clearing she quickly gagged and fell to one of her knees. She could practically taste the evil and hatred that was saturating the air heavily. It was was so heavy that it was near impossible for a normal person to even breathe in the area at that point. The evil practically seemed alive as it pressed down on the girl's body.

Crawling forward, Tayuya dunked her head into the river to escape the oppressive feeling on her chest momentarily. As she came back up she found it hard to keep from holding her own breath or even gagging again. After taking a few deep and shallow breaths the girl found herself breathing somewhat normally again. _What the hell is up with this forest and its fucking death traps?!_ As she turned around to go back to the safety forest, like she quickly realized she should've have just done in the first place, she saw a boy a couple of yards away from her lying motionlessly on the ground.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she crawled over to the boy and looked down at him. He had spiky blonde hair and a slightly chunky face. An orange jumpsuit with many rips in it covered the boy's body except over a big gaping hole in his upper left chest. Usually Tayuya would have written the boy off as dead and moved on but looking down into the hole of the boy's chest she noticed the boy's bones.

At first look there was nothing really to it. The bones were broken down into shards basically and were not repairable. But as she looked at it she saw a reddish haze covering them as they ever so slowly lifted and began forming themselves together. Not only were the bones reforming, but the muscles that surrounded them were beginning to grow back. It was at that time that she also noticed that steam was rising from the cuts over the rest of the boy's body as they slowly closed.

To Tayuya it was an amazing power to have in a bad situation like the one the boy was currently in. The boy was obviously going to survive all of his injuries on his own. For some reason though she found herself dragging the boy out of the clearing and back into the forest. After they were out of the clearing, Tayuya leaned the boy against a tree and looked around before letting out a heavy sigh. "What the fuck am I doing? Whatever the hell it is, the shithead here better be fucking worth the damn trouble."

* * *

Pakkun and Kakashi dropped down at the Valley of the End mere minutes later. Immediately a sense of despair overcame the silver-haired Jōnin. Sensing his summoner's despair, Pakun turned to him with downcast eyes. "Kakashi, Sasuke has been gone for a while now. With it raining the way it is now there is no chance of me keeping his for much longer."

Kakashi nodded as he looked down at the two Konoha headbands on the ground before him. Slowly he picked them up in a rag before wrapping them both up tightly. "And Naruto?" he asked emotionlessly.

Pakun sighed as he knew what would come of telling Kakashi the truth, but knew it was best not to hide it from the man. "Naruto's scent is weak here. That is most likely the work of the Kyūbi since his scent has always been odd to us summoning ninkens and even some of the Inuzukas we talk with occasionally. So like Sasuke, he will be near impossible to track if needed."

The small dog looked at a puddle of blood sadly. "And I think it might be." Kakashi looked up at the darkened sky as Pakun continued to talk. "There's another scent around here. It belongs to the missing Sound Four member. It mingles with Naruto's scent. There is a chance that Naruto was taken as well."

For a while Kakashi was silent. Already he was reflecting on what had happened to his old teammates Rin and Obito. The situations were nowhere near the same, but once again he had lost precious people due to an enemy of his village. "Kakashi," Pakkun said, "what are we going to do?"

Kakashi packed the wrapped headband into his pocket before turning away. "There is nothing more we can do here at this point, and you know that Pakun." Pakun lowered his head. "All that can be done now is return and report what we know to Hokage-sama." Not sparing a glance back, the two ran back to Konoha.

* * *

Sakura clutched her hands to her chest as she stood at the entrance of the village. Ever since the mission to retrieve Sasuke was set into motion she had been standing in the exact same spot. People would occasionally pass by her, but none would talk to her. Everyone in the village knew what was happening. Everyone knew she was waiting for the return of both of her team members and the rest of the retrieval squad. The only ones to talk to her were Ino, Shizune, and the Hokage herself Tsunade.

Shizune and Tsunade would come and go as they had many things to attend to other the disappearance of a single shinobi. Ino on the other hand had been standing right by Sakura's side the entire time. Seeing as both of Ino's teammates were also sent out to retrieve Sasuke from his supposed kidnappers, the girl was also awaiting the return of the retrieval squad.

"lt'll be alright," Ino would say. "With Shikamaru in charge , there's no way they aren't bringing Sasuke-kun back you just wait and see." "We practically have our dream team out there," she would declare. "There's no one that could stand in their way." "Hey cheer up already," she would whisper as she hugged the other girl. "Naruto promised you didn't he? He never goes back on his promises remember. They'll all come back safe."

Sakura would just nod her head absentmindedly. She wouldn't really listen to to what Ino would say to her. Just responded to the sound of the other girl's voice. The only thing she even took to heart was Naruto's promise. Naruto never made a promise he couldn't keep. That promise was the only thing that gave the girl hope at all.

That hope began to waver as Tsunade and Shizune rushed towards them. Ino turned and looked at them. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly. Sakura also looked at the to older women as the trouble on their faces were evident.

"You two need to move aside," Shizune said as medical ninja started to appear all around them.

Panic gripped Sakura as Ino went wide eyes. "What are you talking about? Why are all…"

A loud yell to move made the two girls jump as they turned back towards the gate. They were greeted by the sight of a group of four shinobi rushing towards them. Between them they carried a gurney that had the still form of Choji, one of Ino's teammates, on it. His wounds didn't seem life threatening, but he appeared to be barely breathing.

The two girls froze as Tsunade and Shizune began to issue orders. Not long after Choji was brought in, Neji was also carried in through the gates. Unlike Choji, Neji had several wounds across his body including a gaping hole in his shoulder. Blood poured from the wound and dripped to the ground as he was taken to the hospital with Shizune following.

Kiba soon followed after in a similar less life threatening condition. At this point many shinobi and kunoichi were running in and out of the village. Tsunade was yelling and directing as people moved around in a frenzy. Hope slowly vanished from the girls as everything whirled around. Ino eventually took off to the hospital to check on her injured teammate.

Sakura inched closer and closer to the gate with each passing moment. Despair gripping her heart each time a person passed her that wasn't either of her teammates. She was only awaiting their return as even Tsunade had to leave to assist in Neji's recovery. She was surprised to to she Lee's unconscious form returning, but paid him little heed. Her attention was fixed on Shikamaru.

He was the only member to return from the mission of his own power. He had his own wounds, but in comparison to the others he was unscathed.

As soon as he was within arms reach Sakura grabbed him. "Where are they?"

Shikamaru looked at her with troubled eyes. He had no answer to her question. The last he saw of Naruto was his receding back has he took on the female member of the Sound Four. After a moment's pause he decided it best to console her. To at least give her some ray of hope in the obvious despair she felt.

A hand fell onto his shoulder gently as he went to speak. The two turned to see the solemn face of Kakashi. "Both of you come with me," he said simply. Getting a nod from both of them, he turned to leave but only heard a single person following him.

Turning back he saw Sakura still standing in the same spot. Still waiting for any sign of success. "Sakura," he said, grabbing her gently. "Let's go. I have information you all need to hear." Feeling no resistance from the girl, Kakashi carried her as he and Shikamaru went to report to the Hokage.

* * *

Inuzuka Hana sat outside of a hospital room as she tapped her foot impatiently. It had been almost an hour since her brother Kiba had asked her to leave the room. Just the fact that her annoying younger brother had asked her to leave his room without being rude in any way was bothering her immensely. "Has he even made a sound in there?"

Hana looked up at her mother, Inuzuka Tsume, who was walking down the hall with a slight smirk. "No he hasn't mother. He has never been this quiet before. It is somewhat unnerving to say the least."

Tsume nodded in understanding. "Always knew that our little ball of fire would be hit with the cold water of reality. Just never had I thought, nor did I want it to be so soon. Especially this way." She leaned her back against her son's door and sighed. "All we can do for now is give him time. That's all we can do."

A loud crash echoed from inside the room. It took only a second a for the startled form of Hana to appear in front of her mother who was only shaking her head. She continued to lean against the door as more banging began to rang out from the room. "Time Hana... but not much."

Inside the room, Inuzuka Kiba could be seen at the window of the room. A rectangular pan could be seen on the ground with food splattered all around it. One of the two beds in the room was tossed onto its side, while the other one held a bandaged, shivering, and slightly whimpering Akamaru.

Kiba's hands and forehead were firmly pressed against the window. Cracks were below them as he pushed harder and harder against the glass. Memories of the days he and Naruto spent arguing and messing around with each other. The times they would meet up with Choji and Shikamaru to play pranks or fun games. Anyone looking at his back would see a young man reasonably shivering from the cold of the room, but anyone looking up through the window would see a young tear streaked boy.

* * *

Shino sat in a chair as he visibly stared straight forward. He was alone in a school room of Konoha's Ninja Training Academy. It was the classroom that he and the rest of the Rookie Nine were taught in for three years. It had become a place so familiar to him that it was not unusual for him to be found in the room during the afternoon hours.

As he sat there staring straight ahead at the empty desk in front of his, one of the entrances to the room slid open. Looking over to the door, Shino saw his sensei from the Academy days Iruka entering the room. He watched the slide door close before slowly walking through the room. His eyes seemed to scan the room and take in each and every desk. Iruka's gaze lingered momentarily on Shino before giving him a nod of acknowledgement.

After returning the nod to Iruka, Shino turned back to look at the front of the class. It would be hours before either of the two would leave their spots that they were rooted in . Neither one knowing that the other was shedding tears in the presence of the other.

* * *

Hinata sat quietly alone in her room on her bed. Her hands were clasped together tightly in front of her shaking ever so slightly in her lap. She had her eyes tightly closed as she whispered words softly under her breath softly over and over again.

Just outside her door kneels her fraud and mentor Yuji Kurenai. She stated at the door in silence, waiting. As the young girl's friend, she wanted to comfort the young girl about the lost of her crush and tell her that everything was going to be okay. As her mentor, she still wanted to comfort the girl but in a more realistic way. Sometimes it's the people you care about most who are cut down by the Shinigami's cold blade instead of your enemies. Both ideas didn't hold much merit as Kurenai already knew they would have minimal effect on the Hinata's current state. "Why did this have to happen to them so soon in their lives?" Kurenai sighed and closed her eyes.

In the room, Hinata was beginning to rock back and forth. Still she was whispering the words over and over again. Only now she was crying freely as she spoke. "...let him live. Please let him live. Please let him live. Please let…"

* * *

Hovering high above the Village Hidden in the Leaves sat the the ever so famous Homage Monument with the faces of all five of the village's leaders carved into it. Atop of one of the heads sat a single boy who looked down on the village. He had dark red hair and a dark orange gourd strapped to his back. With black ringed eyes, the boy looked unto the Village as the sun was beginning to set. Streamers and lights were decorating it's main areas where the civilians of the Konoha were obviously preparing to have quite the party.

The boy squeezed his upper arms as he glared down. "This village is what you fought for? These are the people you died for?" The boy shook his head sadly. "You deserved so much more than this Uzumaki-san."

"Gaara!" A boy wearing what appeared to be an all black catsuit along with a large bandaged wrapped container on his back dropped down next to the boy. "Hey Gaara, it's almost time for us to leave the Village. We need to meet Temari down by the gate." He looked out at what Gaara was staring at and sighed. "I don't think staying here any longer will do any of us much good brother."

Gaara turned to his brother before tossing the village one last glance. "Understood Kankuro. Let's leave this place."

* * *

Shikamaru sat quietly in the window sill of Choji's room. He and Ino had paid Choji a visit now that he was allowed visitors. It had been a full week since they all got back. A week since the Sasuke Retrieval mission failed disastrously. A week since Naruto had disappeared practically without a trace.

"How is Sakura?" Choji asked Ino from his medical bed. He had awoken to the news yesterday and had been worrying non stop about the remaining member of Team Seven. "Have you heard from her?"

Ino shook her head. She sat in a still right next to Choji's bed. "I've gone to visit her, but she won't see me. According to her mom she isn't eating or coming out of her room though." Ino hung her head and balled her fist. "I should've stayed with her instead running off to the hospital. I don't know if I could have done anything but…"

"It wouldn't have helped," Shikamaru said. "When Kakashi broke the news to us she just left. She didn't fall to her knees, she didn't cry or yell at me for failing. She just left." He shook his head. "Kakashi went after her, but I doubt he was able to do anything."

"I can't imagine what she is going through. I mean, I don't know how I'd react if you two didn't come back. I just…" Ino sighed. "I don't know."

Choji nodded and thought for a second before looking at his friend. "Shikamaru… it's not…"

"Don't you say it!" Shikamaru surprised his teammates with the amount of heat behind his words. "I don't want to hear that anymore! Lady Tsunade. My old man. Asuma-sensei. Kakashi. Temari. The doctors. All of them have said that it's not my fault." Standing, he uncharacteristically punched the wall making a fist sized dent in it. "I failed all of you out there. I left the fighting to everyone else. I'm the only one who came back that didn't need immediate medical attention. You, Kiba, and Neji nearly died on my account. So I don't want hear it's not my fault anymore. We didn't get Sasuke back and Naruto is gone. I failed…" the last part he said as he slid against the wall.

With tears in her eyes, Ino rushed over and hugged Shikamaru. She didn't know what to say and hated herself for being so useless. Choji clenched his fist as he sat on his bed unable to move. Looking at Shikamaru made him feel lost. The room soon filled with the sobs of all three members of Team Ten.

* * *

 _Naruto…_ Alone in her darkened room a girl sat with her back to the wall. Ever since the day that her sensei told them what happened she had been hold up there. A few people have stopped by on occasions since then. Her mother and father. Shizune. Ino. Tenten. A handful of ninja who knew something similar to her loss. None of them managed to get in. The girl was just unable to open the door. _Sasuke…_

 _Naruto…_ She was numb. Numb to everything that was going on around her. The parties that were thrown in the early week fell on deaf ears. Pain that shot through put the abdomen went unregistered. The scent of an unwashed body was ignored. Sense of time being completely lost in the void. _Sasuke…_

 _Naruto…_ Nothing was going on in the room. No tears were being shed. No words were being spoken. No thoughts were being completely formulated. It was filled with a stale inactivity. The outside world has no effect on what was and wasn't occurring inside. _Sasuke…_

 _Naruto…_ Currently that was continuing with more voices slipping through the door. They got closer, and even seemed more urgent. When the noise was coming from right outside the door, the girl didn't even stir in the slightest. Not even when it suddenly flew off its hinges. Having her eyes cast down the girl had no idea who entered and didn't really care. _Sasuke…_

 _Naruto…_ A few people filtered into the room. Some of them talking, others just watching. Time past while the girl gaze down. So much was happening around her, but it was as if she wasn't even there. Until a hand cupped her chin and lifted it. Strong brown eyes peered into lifeless green ones. They two stayed locked for sometime before the brown eyes blinked and disappeared. Her chin was released allowing her head to drop back down. _Sasuke…_

 _Naruto…_ There was an odd sensation that soon followed. A feeling she couldn't recognize so she ignored. It matter little to her what was happening. Even as she was carried to the hospital the girl gave no response. As dead on the inside as her eyes were on the outside. _Sasuke…_

* * *

 **A/N: This is a story that's been floating around in my head for sometime now. Haven't wanted to write it since I have 5 other incomplete stories. Didn't seem like a good idea. Probably still isn't. Just haven't been able to push it aside lately, so now it has been written. Since it took time away from other writings, might as well put it out there. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter. Until next time my friends~**


	2. Chapter 2

Konohagakure. The first of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it is also considered the most beautiful of them all. The scenery that can be seen from its highest points was like none other presented by the other four villages. Once inside the village, one could easily see the village's iconic monument from any spot inside of it. With the face of every Hokage the village has ever had, the Hokage Monument was a sight to be seen by all. Even though it was arguably the strongest of the villages, it is also one of the more peaceful villages around.

A lone Shikamaru made his way down the empty morning streets seeing that peacefulness, but failing to see any of the beauty he had come accomstomed to viewing. After his breakdown in Choji's hospital room the young boy had been taking morning walks to clear his mind after waking up. His nights had been filled with dreams and nightmares of his failed mission from almost a month ago now.

At times he would wake thinking he had just finished the mission. Sometimes it was a complete success. Everybody returned, and Naruto was able to bring Sasuke back to Sakura just like he had promised her he would. Other times the mission was still a failure, but things ended differently at the very least. Sasuke unfortunately may have still gotten away from them all, but Naruto was found and brought back to the village. Down but not out, the young blond would live on to keep his promise in the end. Those were the good nights.

That wasn't the case more often the not. Most nights were nightmare filled. The mission was never a success. There were times where Shikamaru would be the only one to return from the mission able to continue on with his shinobi career, or even be the only one of them left alive. Other times he was able to catch up to Naruto only to see the young boy's body lying lifelessly on the ground. Occasional that body spoke. Telling him how he failed. How he should have been there to help his friend instead of abandoning him. A few times he would turn around to see the bodies of the rest of the team piled up behind him. Hearing them all tell him how the blood of everyone was on his hands. How he would never be able to wash that away.

Shikamaru would wake from all these dreams in a cold sweat. He would find himself fighting back the urge to scream in rage and anguish after them. This quickly led to him taking many prolonged walks in need of something to help him bleed away everything that was building up inside of him. It was during the first of these walks, that started off in the middle of the day, that he saw how most of the villagers responded to the sudden disappearance of the two Genin from Team Seven.

The responses that he saw for Sasuke were to be expected. There were tears from people who barely knew the boy, but still thought highly of him. Disappointment filled the eyes of many of those who had high expectations of Uchiha while rest were upset that he was 'allowed' to be taken from the village with 'little to no' resistance. Besides that, people just talked about all the good that could have been if more competent shinobi were sent on the mission and succeeded in bring back the boy. There was no surprise in what he saw and heard. It was the response to the loss of Naruto that both surprised and horrified the Nara heir.

He knew that Naruto had always been looked down upon by most of the villagers. It had been that way since he first met the boy a couple years before their academy days together. Even then, Shikamaru couldn't believe how happy the general public was at Naruto's complete disappearance. Learning that all the celebrations that were being held, until the Hokage put a stop to them all, were to celebrate the Genin's disappearance/death made Shikamaru sick to his stomach. People seemed eager to spit out how happy they were to be rid of that 'little monster' as they called him. Some even openly talking about how they hoped he was killed and would never be found if he was still alive. There were a few who were indifferent to what happened, with even fewer actually feeling the loss of Naruto.

Seeing all of this forced Shikamaru to move his walks to the early mornings where he would only see the early movements of other shinobi. He couldn't stand to look at the people who would so happily look upon the loss of what was one of the most loyal shinobi this village had ever produced. Even looking around now he could hear the phantom laughs and chuckles of gleeful villagers. It was more just than a little bit upsetting. Deep down, it all made Shikamaru livid to the core.

Taking a deep breath, the young heir clenched and unclenched his fist multiple times as he looked up towards the sky. The anger that had suddenly surged up in his body dwindling away. He looks back down and locks his eyes on a stand not too far out in front of him. For a moment he just looked at it before walking towards it.

Ichiraku Ramen. It had become a proverbial safe haven for those who cared about Naruto during the celebrations and still was for many. Ducking into the stand, Shikamaru was immediately graced with the scent of many different ramen scents and met with the sight of two backs. It was an unusual sight this early in the morning, but not an unwelcome one. He took up a seat between the two of them silently and leaned forward as he placed his hands on the counter.

Nobody said anything. It had become increasingly difficult to be the first one to talk when everyone had the same thing going through their minds. The three just sat there silently beside each other. Each one waiting for someone else to speak first. It wasn't much longer after Shikamaru sat down the a bowl of ramen was slid in front of each person. They all thanked the man in turn as they paid him and watched him walk towards the sink to wash dishes. With a sigh, they start to eat their food.

Shikamaru looked at the others after getting a few bites of food into him. "What has you two here so early in the morning?"

Turning to look at the clan heir, Choji gave a small smile before speaking. "Woke up a bit ago. Couldn't get back to sleep. Decided why not? Let's get some ramen. Saw Ino walking around outside and brought her along with." The two boys looked at the girl as she poked at her food quietly. "How is Sakura?"

Ino shook her head and took a small bite of her food. "...she still isn't talking to anyone. I haven't been able to get her to even look at me when I visit her. They're force feeding her since she won't do it herself. Same with other daily necessities. All of them." All of their eyes fall down to their food. It's quiet again for a moment before soft sobs force the boys to look at Ino again. "I… I want to help her. I kept saying how it'd a-all be fine. How they'd be coming back through the gates at a-any moment. That Naruto… Naruto would never go back on his promise to come back with Sasuke in tow." She shook her head with tears flowing down her cheeks. "I left her th-there. S-She needed someone to be there with h-her, and I left her there alone. I… I… I…" Choji stands and walks around Shikamaru to grab Ino's shoulder as he tries to calm her with soft words.

Shikamaru reaches over squeezing the girl's hand quietly. _Naruto…_ A faint smell of cigarette smoke suddenly slides under his nose making him look behind them all. Walking towards the three of them was their Jounin sensei Sarutobi Asuma with cigarette in mouth per usual. There was a soft smile on his face as he approached them all.

* * *

Nothingness. It's odd how comfortably that feeling can be when all other options feel like a true death sentence. Laying in her bed, Sakura stared up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. The girl had yet to make any movement of her own and would barely sleep without the assistance of medication from the doctors.

Besides the doctors, there were only a few people that would come visit the child. Her parents and Ino were the most frequent visitors, and the only ones that would just talk to her even though she wasn't responding in any way. On the rare occasion Choji would join Ino but would only talk when prompted to by the blond girl. Others like the members of Team Eight, Lee, Tenten, Shizune, and Ino's mother came by on a few times to check on the girl. None of them knowing what to truly do for the girl besides just be there for her.

Currently sitting in her room with her was her Jounin sensei Kakashi Hatake. He watched over her quietly as he let his thoughts roam. Since delivering the news of the loss of two of his three charges the man has seldom been available to others besides the Fifth herself. While still doing missions, he has taken it upon himself to begin a slow steady search for the missing Uzumaki. He was slowly but surely making his way further and further away from the spot at which the boy was lost. The masked man knew that the trail had gone cold sometime ago, but he would feel like a failure of a teacher if he gave up so easily on finding the boy. Not only would it be disrespectful to his own teacher, but at this point, finding Naruto was looking like the only thing that would possibly make Sakura come back to the world again.

Getting up from the chair he sat in, Kakashi walked over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you aren't registering what's going on around you to protect yourself. I don't blame you for it. Just know I won't give up. I'll bring back as much of our little family as I can." He gives a small squeeze before disappearing from the room to go start another mission he had accepted.

 _Naruto… Sasuke…_

* * *

"What are you doing to locate our missing weapon?"

"Why have there been no further attempts to rescue the Uchiha from Orochimaru?"

"Who decided making deals with Suna was a good idea?"

"Where is Jiraiya-sama at?"

"How much longer are we going to ignore the moves that Snake continues to pull on us?"

"When are you gonna announce the boy as what he is? Dead."

Having finally had enough with the questions, Tsunade slammed her fist down on the large council table cracking the area around it. Everything went quiet as she looked at the civilian man who voiced the last question and statement. "I'm not going to announce Naruto as dead, because there is no evidence of his death. We do not make announcements on baseless assumptions." After that she pointed her finger at each person who had spoken, answering their questions in turn. Not allowing anyone a word edgewise.

"We aren't ignoring his movements. Intel on what he is doing, and his possible whereabouts, are being gathered by a very capable spymaster at this very moment. A slippery man like him is not easy to get your hands on. The deals with Suna are through me, looked over by me, and made by me. As far as the Uchiha is concerned, I have zero plans on wasting more resources trying to locate a traitor than necessary." A glare silenced a person who went to speak on her calling Sasuke a traitor. "When we have finally located Orochimaru, I promise you Sasuke will be there. Once that is done, decisions on what to do with him will be made from there. Now if that is all any of you have to ask me, I believe it is time you civilians to leave this table."

Many of the civilian members of the council went to argue and the Fifth quickly swiped her hand through the air with authority. With a sudden swiftness, a number of ANBU members appeared whisking away every none shinobi in the room. Tsunade relaxed after they were gone before letting her eyes drift to the only member of the shinobi council to have asked a question. It was of course the old war hawk Shimura Danzo who leveled the question of finding the village's 'weapon'. "He is no weapon Danzo. Currently Jiraiya is searching far and wide for him wide for him while looking for information on Orochimaru. Hatake Kakashi is doing a more close to home search in his spare time between missions. It is not as though we are ignoring his disappearance."

Danzo lowers a distasteful look on the female leader. "Your attachment to the boy is painfully obvious and shameful to observe. Every shinobi in this village is a tool to be used towards its benefit. Allowing for the loss of the Uchiha was already a large mistake, but not doing all you can to recover a missing Jinchuuriki is just pure negligence on your part."

Tsunade was deeply irritated by the man's response, but it was the Nara Clan head that spoke up. "While we understand what you are saying Danzo-dono, what you are asking for at this point and time is unreasonable. We do not have the force to spare in search of someone that we have no leads in finding. Currently our Jounin force is spread thin on missions across the land. The Chunin are doing their best to keep things in the village running while also being heavily taxed with their own missions to endure as well. Our most capable Genin are still recovering from the results of that failed mission, and sending them out on such a mission as this alone would be asking too much of them at their best. I am not saying that we should abandon any search attempts for Naruto besides what Kakashi and Jiraiya-sama are currently doing, but it definitely is not something that should be on the forefront of the council's mind at this point and time." Danzo quietly observed the man before giving something of an acknowledgement to his words.

With that having been quickly subdued, Tsunade nodded at the clan head before addressing the rest of the council. "With that said, I believe it's time we made decisions on our manning. We have become spread too thin to adequately defend ourselves from any real threats. Cutting deals with Suna may alleviate a few of these problems for now, but we obviously can't fully rely on a village that needs us more than we need them."

As the meeting started to actually get underway, Tsunade's thoughts would occasionally drift away. She knew that part of what Shikaku had to say to Danzo as far as sparing anymore manning towards finding Naruto was also meant for her. She hated it. The older women truly wanted to put a hold on everything and go in search of Naruto herself. Something that anyone would find unacceptable. For now she would focus on the village's needs as much as she possibly could, but the woman was still human. _I'm sorry… As soon as we can, we WILL come for you Naruto. Nothing will stop that from happening. Just please be okay._

* * *

Below the land that was currently known as the Land of Rice Paddies existed a mass of swirling tunnels and dimly lit corridors that lead to an abundance of rooms. There were many stories of what occurred or lurked down in them. Everything from the possibilities of slave trading and prostitution to being the home of an long forgotten evil. When one boiled it all down, no one's theories were completely wrong.

Any immoral act that a person could think of was committed down in these rooms. Human trafficking. Prostitution. Organ harvesting. Torture. Human experimentation. Drug peddling. All of these things and more occurred in the grimy depths of this place. Everything led by an unseen, but definitely not forgotten, evil. An evil that was patiently biding its time in the shadows.

In these same tunnels, a young boy with glasses and ash gray hair was kneeling before a man sitting on a throne like chair. He wore a dark purple shirt with a high colla, along with a pair of dark purple pants. In his hands he held a thin folder with a few sheets of paper filling it. The boy looked at the man as he spoke. "The intel from Konoha has finally arrived Orochimaru-sama. It has come with a one or two notes of interest."

A chuckle echoed from the man in the chair. His thin lips curling up into a slight smirk on his pale face. "Finally. It may be time to replace the spies we have stationed there. Hopefully these notes of interest were worth the time it took to report them. Proceed Kabuto."

Kabuto stood as he opened the folder. "As you already know, the bodies of the Sound Five had been recovered by Konoha. The thing is, the five bodies that they were able to recover were all male. It didn't take much digging to find that Tayuya was somehow able to survive her battle and eventually escape away from Konoha before anyone could get ahold of her. Her current whereabouts are unknown. There have been no attempts at locating her either."

"I see." Orochimaru thinks for a moment before he dismisses it. "It matters little. The girl doesn't have any information on us that isn't already becoming outdated. There aren't many other countries she could safely hide in without having to face its justice systems once they figure out who she is. Her fate was sealed the moment she was defeated. Continue."

Kabuto smirked in agreement. "The village is still feeling the effects of our joint attack with Sunagakure. Their manning is still subpar at the moment, and they have been forced to begin making deals with Suna themselves out of desperation. Obviously they still have powerful shinobi amongst their ranks, but they are spread quite thin. We dealt quite the large blow when we took Sasuke-kun as well."

"That is to be expected. A prodigy and the most powerful Kekkei Genkai was taken from them. That potential is not something that Tsunade and that foolish village will be able to replace with ease."

"While this is true, that is not the only thing that came of taking Sasuke-kun away." A wide grin split Kabuto's face as he pushed up on the bridge of his glasses. "Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyubi Jinchuuriki, was a part of the team that was sent out to retrieve Sasuke-kun from the Sound Five. While the rest of the team was brought back and treated for their injuries, his body was never found. Many are starting to consider the boy dead. Whether he is or not…"

"The Kyubi is gone from Konoha, and up for grabs for whoever can locate it." Orochimaru's eyes light up with this revelation. For a moment the snake was silently before a chuckle started to radiate from him. It grew as time passed until it became an all out laughter. "With one simple move we've robbed them of their most daunting weapon. If Sasuke-kun is potential, the Kyubi Jinchuuriki is guaranteed power." He looks at the medical shinobi with gleeful eyes. "Ensure we have a proper sealing team prepared. We may be tailed beast hunting soon."

* * *

"Thanks. Ya been a huge help here since ya came along. How's that boy of yours?"

Turning around, a young blond haired girl smirked. "It's no problem Eiji. Probably go crazy if I wasn't doing something while I was here. Anyways, he still hasn't woken up just yet. Also he ain't 'my boy'. I already told you he's just a friend of mine."

"That's right." The man that was talking to the girl leaned against the entrance of his shop with a wink. "If that's the case why not let me take ya out later. Promise ya it'll be a night ya won't want to forget."

The girl laughs as she turns on her heels and takes off. "Not even in your dreams Eiji. Maybe I'll let Saki know that your going around hitting on girls again. I'll bet she'll enjoy that." Her laughter increases as Eiji's face morphs into a look of horror. (Ha. Serves you right you perverted fuck.)

After running for a bit, the girl slows to a walk and looks around her surroundings. She found herself in the center of a small nomadic village that was currently on the edge of the Land of Canyons and the Land of Bones. She came across them as they were getting ready to navigate around Takigakure, and with her friend in tow, was able to gain a temporary spot amongst them. She relaxed and sat herself down on a nearby barrel.

The girl looked to the night sky as the stars shone brightly in it with the moon out shining them. She ran a hand through her short, spiky hair and let out a slow sigh. Her body slumping as all of the energy leaves her body for a moment. It has been two weeks since she joined up with these people. This was already much longer than planned. It was supposed to be a momentary shelter until it was time to move on again. Something that couldn't be done until her friend was good and ready.

She took a deep breath. "Hopefully this doesn't last much longer. It isn't a good idea to stay in one spot for too long." She hops off the barrel and adjust a short black shirt that she was wearing. "Hopefully that idiot is up and ready to go soon."

The girl heads over to one of the larger built homes letting herself in, and immediately pauses. It was the place that was currently boarding her, and since arriving the girl had gotten accustomed to a few things. One of them was the immediate smell of dinner upon opening the door along with the sounds of cutlery from the kitchen. Walking in now there was nothing but silence and nothing to smell in the air. Stepping further into the house, she began hearing the sounds of people rushing around in a room down at the far end of a hallway. The girl quickly moved towards the room as yelling starting coming from inside of the closed room. She bursted in to the sight of chaos.

The owner of this house was the village doctor, and he and his two daughters were currently the caretakers of the friend that the blond girl had brought along with her. Currently that friend of hers was thrashing wildly on his medical bed while having one of his hands wrapped tightly around one of the girl's throats. The doctor and his other daughter were doing everything they possibly could to calm and restrain the enraged boy. They also had the help of another young man who was trying, and sorely failing, to remove her friend's hand from the other girl's throat. Empty syringes of sedatives laid on the ground, with a few of them having been stepped on, and there was a small amount of blood as well from the young man who looks like he had taken a pretty good hit to the nose.

The blond looked at her friend as she watched him struggle with all his strength. Even with all the sedatives that were obviously pumped into him, he was still looking as though he would easily overpower the four people in the room at any moment. She turned and ran to the room that she was given and rummaged around in a dresser. The girl rushed back to the room once she grabbed the item she needed.

Once she reached the doorway again, she put the flute that she had grabbed to her lips and immediately began to play.

* * *

 **A/N: So it's been a year. An extremely long year. Honestly didn't plan on making this take so long. Won't lie, I was barely working on this or anything else involving writing during that time though. So much else, that I know y'all don't care to hear about, going on around me that I just couldn't get to it. I do apologize for the wait, but make no promises for the chapter other than that it is indeed being written. Hopefully it won't take another year, so for now, until next time my friends~**


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